


Saving Sophie

by Nareliel



Series: Seriously? [3]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Sexual Assault, F/M, Protective Eliot Spencer, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28950510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nareliel/pseuds/Nareliel
Summary: Sophie is being wrestled into the back of a van by a stocky blonde.  The sight makes Eliot see red, and that violence he always keeps under tight control comes unleashed.
Relationships: Sophie Devereaux/Nathan Ford
Series: Seriously? [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2123349
Kudos: 26





	Saving Sophie

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me one night when I was going to bed and would not let me sleep. I finally gave up, got up, and wrote it in the early hours of the morning. I will warn that there are references to being drugged and-though nothing happens-it is implied that Sophie's abductor expects non-consensual intercourse.

It should have never happened, but she had been too focused on the mark to realize something had been slipped into her drink. It’s a rookie mistake, one she’s never made before, and Sophie would give herself a thorough tongue lashing if she could remember the bloody words she wanted to use. But everything is a bit hazy at the moment, and she can’t seem to collect her thoughts. There’s a hand on her arm, leading her somewhere as she stumbles, bumping into one of the patrons. They ask if she’s okay and the voice of her escort sounds off alarms in her brain. She doesn’t know this person, where he’s taking her, or even how to seek aid over the roaring din of noise that reigns over the club’s main floor. None of her limbs seem to be cooperating, and her mind is just too sluggish. 

They make it into the hall and she realizes he is ushering her toward a door with a bright red _EXIT_ sign plastered above it. The pulsing music isn’t as loud out here, and Sophie is able to gather enough of her wits to recognize she is in serious trouble. She needs to let the others know but talking seems such a chore. She can hear Nate’s voice in her ear, giving Hardison instructions but he’s too far away. He’ll never hear her. No, that’s not right. She attempts to shake her head to clear it and only manages to make herself dizzy. Parker is saying something, and Sophie remembers. They’re across town, breaking into the mark’s office. They won’t get here fast enough. But, she can’t be alone. Nate rarely sends her in without Parker or Hardison or Eliot. That’s right; Eliot. He’s here. Somewhere. Sophie musters what strength she can and calls for assistance.

-//- -//- -//- -//- -//-

Eliot has just finished casing their mark’s security detail when he hears Sophie come over the comm. “Eliot….help.” Her voice is weak and scared, the latter part bringing him to a complete stop. 

“Sophie, where are you?” His words bring a halt to the rest of the team’s conversation, but he tunes all that out as he focuses on everything he can hear coming from her earpiece. 

“Door.” It’s all she manages to say, giving him the sinking feeling that she’s been drugged. Eliot instantly lays out a mental floorplan of the building and pinpoints the exit closest to where she had positioned herself at the bar.

“Hang on, Soph,” he orders as he takes off in a run. “I’m coming for you.” He can hear a man making excuses for his girlfriend being too drunk as a door opens and, suddenly, the annoying echo of the nightclub’s music is no longer pulsing in his right eardrum like it was earlier. 

A second later, Hardison cuts in, “Eliot! She’s on the east side of the building!” He’s probably just retasked a satellite-maybe even two-for such a distinct reading on her earbud’s location, but Eliot doesn’t really care as he flies out the nearest exit and tears around the building to the indicated parking lot.

That’s when he sees them. Sophie is being wrestled into the back of a van by a stocky blonde, his hands already sliding to places she should never be touched without consent. The sight makes Eliot see red, and that violence he always keeps under tight control comes unleashed.

-//- -//- -//- -//- -//-

“ _Come here!”_ The words roar out of Eliot, making the rest of them jump at the intensity of his voice bellowing over the comms. Parker swerves erratically, but to be honest, Nate isn’t sure if it’s due to the sound of their enraged hitter or just Parker’s driving. When he’d realized Sophie was in trouble, Nate had shoved Parker behind the wheel. He’s never known anyone else who could get a sedan to go 140, and he’s pretty sure she’s motivated enough to get even more speed out of his Mercedes. Muffled groans punctuated by painful cries echo over the comms, and Nate hopes they can get there fast enough.

“Hardison, get an ambulance,” he orders. “Make sure the call comes from the club.” The hacker’s fingers are tearing across his keyboard with a speed that is truly impressive given Parker is zipping in and out of traffic like a gazelle fleeing a ravenous cheetah. Nate adds, “Give limited details. Assault victim. Male-”

“Hold up!” Hardison interjects with an incredulous look. “The ambulance isn’t for Sophie?”

“We’ve got Sophie,” Nate explains. “No, the paramedics are for what’s left of that guy when Eliot is done with him.” Hardison and Parker exchange a look, and then the hacker gets back to work. Nate doesn’t voice his real concern, that they might not make it before Eliot kills him.

Nate has heard the tell-tale signs of numerous fights playing through the comms over the years and none of them have been this violent. It’s not that he thinks this slimy bastard shouldn’t get a beating for preying on women-this has been too smoothly executed for Sophie to be his first victim-but Eliot is their hitter, not their assassin. And, though he’s killed before, Nate knows Eliot doesn’t want the others to see him take a life. Right now, given the rapid cadence of fists pummeling flesh, Nate isn’t sure the younger man is aware of how close he is to straying over that particular line.

He knows Eliot keeps his inner demons caged with an iron will that is impressive, to say the least, but if Nate had any doubts about his read on the situation, they vanish the moment he hears Sophie’s weak, “Eliot…Eliot...stop!” Her drugged words are too soft for the hitter to hear, but Nate knows that she sees what he fears. If they don’t do something, Eliot is about to go too far.

-//- -//- -//- -//- -//-

Nate is yelling his name, but Eliot drowns him out. Then he adds, “Sophie needs you. NOW!” The words _Sophie needs you_ finally penetrate the savagery thrumming through his veins long enough for him to hear her feebly calling out to him. Eliot releases his hold on the now unconscious man and watches him slump to the ground. He takes a second to collect himself and shove his inner beast back into its cage. He doubts the bloodlust has fully left his eyes, but he softens his gaze as much as he can before heading over to the grifter.

She’s sitting on the floor of the van, her body propped against the open door as she struggles to stay upright. He catches the tail-end of her whispered plea for him to stop, and it suddenly hits home just how close he’s come to letting her see what a true monster he can be. He reaches out, catching sight of the blood on his knuckles just in time to wipe it off on his jeans before he gently cradles the back of her skull.

“It’s okay, Soph,” he half murmurs, half growls as he tilts her head back so that he can get a better look at her face to access her condition. “I’m here. You’re safe.” Her eyes can’t quite focus, but her color is good. She isn’t showing any signs of passing out, just loss of coordination, which means she likely only got a dose strong enough to make her compliant but not so high the drug could cause permanent damage. As soon as he can, he’ll get plenty of water into her to flush it from her system.

“Eliot,” Nate’s voice sounds in his ear. “How’s she doing?”

“I want to take her to a doc I know to be sure, but I think she’ll be okay,” he replies. His gaze sweeps to the bloody heap he left on the pavement, and he reluctantly adds, “Nate, this guy needs an ER.”

“Gotcha’ covered,” Hardison interjects. “Ambulance is en route.”

“What’s the ETA?” Eliot asks as Sophie slumps forward. He catches her and brings her in to rest against his shoulder, wrapping his arms around her to provide the security she’s seeking in her muddled state.

“It’s ten minutes out,” Hardison replies, and Parker tacks on, “Be there in five.”

They’re the first words he’s heard the thief utter since Sophie called out for help, and Eliot realizes her short, clipped tone means Parker is barely containing her own anger. In some ways, the two of them are too much alike. He hopes Nate orders her to stay in the car when they arrive, or he might have to stop her from finishing what he started. Parker enjoys using her taser on a good day. Right now, she might electrocute the bastard without batting an eye. It probably wouldn’t take much. He’s very aware of the fact that he broke several of the guy’s bones and was fairly close to beating the man to death. He’s thankful Nate knows him well enough to realize he needed reeling back in, otherwise he would have done something he regretted. Not that killing a predator would bother Eliot, but Sophie seeing him do it...that’s a price he’s not willing to pay. Not unless he has no other choice. 

Intellectually, his team is aware that he’s a killer. But knowing he’s killed before and actually witnessing him doing it are two completely different things. Eliot fights every day to keep that part of him in the past and, in a few short minutes, he nearly blew it all to hell. Sophie nestles in closer, shifting his attention from the unconscious man to the grifter who’s trying to crawl further into his embrace, and he doesn’t regret any of the pain he dealt out to the man lying in the dirt. When he wakes- _If_ he wakes; there’s a good chance he’ll be left with brain damage.-Eliot hopes the man’s road to recovery is long, arduous, and full of numerous setbacks. Anyone who preys on women like this deserves nothing less.

-//- -//- -//- -//- -//-

The car screeches to a halt and Nate orders Parker and Hardison to stay put as he scrambles out of the back seat. Eliot is already walking toward him with Sophie cradled in his arms. Nate studiously ignores the heap of unnaturally sprawled cloth and limbs lying a few feet from the back of the van. His gaze rivets on Sophie and he lets out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding. He doesn’t know what he was expecting, but there are no bruises or any other marks of being assaulted. She gives off the appearance of being a little too drunk, but none the worse for wear. 

The fact that Eliot doesn’t seem worried is more comforting than anything. But there’s a wildness-a sense that he hasn’t quite locked away the violence he unleashed on Sophie’s attacker-lurking in the hitter’s eyes that keeps Nate from trying to take Sophie from his grasp. Instead, he moves to open the car door and watches as Eliot carefully climbs in, gently positioning the grifter in his lap. Nate closes the door, rounds the car, and is climbing into the backseat as the distant sound of sirens reaches them. Eliot gives Parker an address and has Hardison call ahead so that his friend-a doctor Eliot apparently trusts, which is good enough for Nate-will be expecting them. And then they’re speeding off into the night leaving behind the battered remnants of Eliot’s rage.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read this short story.


End file.
